Story of a Short Guy Who Grew Taller

"I'm not an angel. I'm sure I had some of it coming. But only some of it.

Growing up, I was bullied all the time. It didn't help that I skipped a class. Not only was I short for someone my age, I was very short compared to my peers, and I had a very youthful face (Grow a beard if you can, r/short). People would pick me up all the time, and generally ignore me unless I practically yelled. They would overlook me or talk over me in conversations. Every time someone in school felt like shit for whatever reason, I became their punching bag. I developed a really bad temper really quickly - which only made it worse, because now I had Napoleon complex. But at least it kept some people from hitting me, knowing that I would always strike back. Girls would think I was cute at best, and a creep at worst for even thinking I was interested in them.

They would never consider me dating material, but thankfully I did find a few girls taller than me who didn't care. Even when I was 15, people treated me like a 10-year old. When I became old enough to drink (In my country, that age is 15), bartenders served me last. During my internship, people would tell me that I was "too short" to be an IT-technician. I couldn't get any respect with the students, who treated me like crap because I looked like a first-year student. Random kids in the street, a lot of them younger than me, would pick on me because I was an easy target. Groups of kids I had never met before would hurl insults at me and attempt to scare me or chase me for no reason. It's the reason I'm here now, talking to you, you know. Because back then, the internet was the only place where people respected me for what I had to say, and what I could do. I stayed at home most of the time, because no matter what I did or where I went, it seemed that people would just walk allover me. I was insecure.

Then gradually, over the course of a year, it all stopped. At first, I had no idea why. Random people stopped pissing allover me. Strangers would no longer attempt to pick me up, or pat me on the head. I was taken more seriously in conversations, and given more respect. When I opened my mouth, for the first time, everyone seemed to be listening. Fellow adults no longer spoke down to me. It took me a long time to realize that it was because I had a late growth-spurt. I had shot up a couple of inches in a very short amount of time. All of a sudden, I didn't have to be angry or even hostile and stubborn, to be respected as a human being. It was just given to me automatically. That was when I realized how fucked up it was.

My experience as a short kid made me very hostile to a lot of people, and it takes a lot for me to trust someone."


Reminds me of high school. If you're a short man who hasn't grown taller like the guy in the story, you either jack off and cry in the corner till you die, or you adapt by lifting weights, learning how to fight and stop taking shit. At the very least, you put up a barrier around yourself so potential scumbags fuck off. It's not like I want to be aloof to most people, but I have to, lest I repeat my childhood again. Sad but true.